More information for teachers and for schools
How can Design Thinking help you?
Design thinking is a creative process that helps you to develop new ideas and create solutions in your classroom, school and community. It can support small or large scale innovation through questioning, empathising, reflection, research, redefining of the problem, ideating, prototyping and testing of ideas.
With empathy, research and reflection being a vital part of the process, solutions that are created should be well informed and have the person / community / issue it is being designed for at the centre.
Design thinking can support project development, project based learning as well as development and innovation in school curriculum, space, processes and systems...and of course Maker Space.
How we can help?
If Stirling's Creative Learning Officer or any of the Maker Mondays or Creative Learning partners can support your school please contact Clare at hoarec@stirling.gov.uk. Here are a few suggestions:
Maker Space training:
Clare and Thomas can offer limited free twilight Maker Space training for Stirling Council schools. We generally offer this training from a city centre space as Thomas is a full time Principal Teacher at Allans PS and Clare has a wider creative learning remit. However, we can offer limited training beyond the city centre. Please contact Clare if you are interested in this training.
Design Thinking training:
If you have a problem or challenge that you are trying to solve and would like to use Design Thinking or other creative thinking processes to help find a solution Clare can offer training to support you to use the processes. This can be as part of a programme open to educators across Stirling within the Creative Space (below) or in your school / via video call (dependant on availability). Clare can also direct you to organisations that offer design thinking support and training.
Creativity and creative learning approaches in your school:
If you would like to explore creativity and creative learning approaches in your school please contact Clare at hoarec@stirling.gov.uk
We work with a variety of creative practitioners and organisations from across Scotland (and UK) who can support and develop creative learning in your school and Clare can speak to you more about this. All the practitioners have extensive experience working in nursery, primary and secondary schools and have current PVG's. Fee's set by the practitioners range from £150 - £250 a day, but all offer half day or part day fees also.
Creative Space:
Would you like to be part of a network of teachers, educators, lecturers and creative practitioners who are interested in creativity and creative approaches in learning?
In 2019 we planted the seeds for a Creative Space in Stirling for Educators and Creative Practitioners in partnership with Forth Valley College, Hidden Giants and Codebase, Stirling (supported by funding from Education Scotland and Creative Scotland through the National Creative Learning Networks).
The Creative Space will support, share, explore and celebrate creative pedagogy and creative thinking processes in learning. We were about to launch our programme in April 2020. We hope in the coming months to develop a virtual space for information and conversations and a real space as soon as we can. If you would like to join the Creative Space mailing list to be kept in touch please email hoarec@stirling.gov.uk
Creative Space Virtual Meets:
Created and supported by Hidden Giants, this is a virtual space that brings educators and creative practitioners interested in creative approaches to learning together for an hour on a weekly or monthly basis. The theme of the conversation is open, the aim is that it offers time to reflect, to share ideas, to creatively problem solve, to think differently, to see things from different perspectives, to consider questions to explore with colleagues, to share changes that you would like to make to their own practice, to speak about concerns as well as successes. If you would like to join these virtual conversations please email hoarec@stirling.gov.uk
Creative Resources:
Click here for a document created for Stirling Council schools and for parents / carers that shares creative resources for children and young people.
See the Links and Resources page for further.....links and resources!
Any other ideas? Please get in touch.